Led Zeppelin
The band Led Zeppelin is one of the greatest
hard rock groups of all time. The
band also has one of the best success
stories in the history hard rock music.
Led Zeppelins success in hard
rock was achieved in the seventies and they even
had a few hits in the late
sixties. The musicians in Led Zeppelin are Jimmy
Page: born on April 9,
1944, Robert Plant, born on August 24, 1948, John Paul
Jones, born on
January 3, 1946, and John Bonham born on May 31, 1948. Jimmy Page
shredded
the guitar, Robert Plant was the vocalist, John Paul Jones kept the
beat on
bass guitar and keyboard, and John Bonham pounded away on the drums. All
of
the band members were in it from the beginning, and it stayed that way
until
the end. Their first album was produced in thirty hours and the record
completed
their opening deal with the Yardbirds. They toured Scandinavia for
some time to
complete their touring obligations with the Yardbirds. When Led
Zeppelin first
arrived in the United States they supported Vanilla Fudge. The
band stared
playing in small venues and clubs until their popularity in
American would take
off. After the band started receiving more recognition
from their fans they got
their first chance to tour as a headliners. Led
Zeppelin played their fifth tour
by March of 1970. Led Zeppelin released
their first record with Atlantic Records
in 1969. In no time the record had
risen to number eight on the billboard top
twenty. The album stayed in the
top twenty for six weeks after it hit the
charts. When the bands second
album, Led Zeppelin II, was released, it was
praised by Atlantic Records’ as
the fastest selling record in history. Led
Zeppelin II sold upwards of
100,000 copies a week. In 1975 when "Physical
Graffiti" was released the
album was selling 500 copies an hour breaking there
own previously held
record. All of the band albums have gone platinum. Led
Zeppelin was the
first group to heavily tour the United States and the band
occasionally
toured the rest of the world. This happened because the band did
not have the
same following in Britain as previous rock bands. Their success was
due to
their genius manager Peter Grant. Peter kept the group moving all the
time
and in hand the peoples interest in the band never faded. Peter realized
that
if he could have Led Zeppelin tour every other year they would stay
in
demand, and this way the population would not grow board with the band
as
quickly. Peter tried his notion while the group worked on their first
movie.
This movie was, simply, the group playing their music, and was
titled; "The
Song remains playing." A representative from their record
company called and
told Page that the sales of the bands new album "Houses of
the Holy" were
spectacular. The record company told Page that Led Zeppelin,
was the biggest
selling group in the world. On top of that they were making
more money than any
other band the time. After Page and Plant heard this they
had a moment of
triumph. They were living their dream, and nothing could or
would stop them
know. Around this time of popularity the band was featured in
the L.A. Times.
They were creating music for the teenage group and they
were being perceived as
role models. In the summer of 1975, Led Zeppelin was
the most popular band in
the world. They were packing football stadiums
across the United States. Abroad
the bands talent was also starting to be
recognized, and they held sold out
shows all across Europe. They filled
Earl’s Court, which held 20,000 people a
show, for a five-day stay in London
England. It was an awesome show that had a
dazzling lights, dry ice, smoke,
and even lasers. The concerts focused on Jimmy
Page and Robert Plant
because they were the main attraction of the group. When
performing on stage
they complimented each other even though they had different
styles of music:
Plant a golden-ringleted Adonis marvelously parodying the
sexual superstar
while singing in a voice of limitless power.
(www.wysiwyg://14/http://www.redrival.com/getled/history.html.)
Page was
a dark, fragile guitarist of immense versatility and command clothed in
black
velvet and rippling dragons.
(www.http://www.led-zeppelin.com/news.html)
The last led Zeppelin albums
released while the band was still making music
together were "The
Presence"(1976) and the "In Though the Out
Door"(1979). John Bonham was
found dead at the home of Jimmy Page on the 25 of
September in 1980. The
tragic loss of their band member brought an end to the
bands ten-year triumph
in the music industry. In 1982 an album was released
named "Coda", it was a
set of recordings and out takes from the bands early
days. Around the same
time period, Robert Plant released his first solo album,
which was called,
"Pictures at Eleven." Even now the music-produced twenty
years a go is a
constantly requested on classic rock and rock stations across
the country.
Led Zeppelin is still being played and loved by all generations of
music
fans. The music that they played is very persuasive and as popular as it
ever
was. Even though they broke up twenty years ago you would not know it
because
of the loyal fans that still roll there windows down tun the radio up
and jam
to the sounds created by Led Zeppelin.
(www.wysiwyg://39/http://www.dazedandconfused.com/home.html)
Led Zeppelin
played for their fans and followers. The band had a huge following
of
teenagers and young adults. All they needed were headphones and a decent
copy
of Led Zeppelin II to keep them happy, occupied, and mesmerized. Led
Zeppelin
had there down times but they also had their good times. People have
loved Led
Zeppelin for years even today’s kids seem to have picked up the
ear for
listening to the band. Twenty-two years after their formation, the
myth still
surrounds the group Led Zeppelin. Few people other then Jimmy
Page, Robert
Plant, and John Paul Jones remember what a truly difficult
road Led Zeppelin
traveled in their time. Led Zeppelin in my mind is one of
the best bands to ever
hit to the world.
Bibliography
1
Atlantic Records, www.atlanticrecords.com/frames/artistmusic/main
1.
Buckeyes led Zeppelin page, Http://www.dnaco.net/buckeye/lz.html 2.
Godwin,
Robert, www.cgpublishingcom/ledzep3.htm 3.
www.http://www.led-zeppelin.com/news.html
5.
www.wysiwyg://14/http://www.redrival.com/getled/history.html.